The Kaiser Permanente Community Benefits Grant Program recently awarded grants totaling $62,626 to nonprofit organizations in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Kaiser Permanente awards grants every year to support organizations that work to improve local health or wellness as part of the organization’s larger mission to support nonprofit health groups, spokeswoman Amy Wiese said.

Organizations that receive them benefit not just from the grant money but also by their ability to leverage Kaiser Permanente money into additional funding down the line, Wiese said.

“A lot of these organizations may be small, but they are mighty,” she said.

Every grant is awarded based on three primary criteria: what an organization does to expand access to care for those who are lower-income or uninsured; what an organization does to improve education, prevention, early detection and treatment of chronic diseases; and how an organization works to combat obesity through medical, environmental and social changes.

Wiese described the recipients of this round of grants as “very local” due in large part to the organizations’ focus on local outreach.

Among the recipients were the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley, which received $10,000 to help fund its “Triple Play” initiative to promote health, fitness and wellness for at-risk youth; the Child & Family Center, which received $12,000 to expand its school-based mental health program that serves lower-income and at-risk youths and their families in the Santa Clarita Valley; and the Northeast Valley Health Corporation, which received the largest grant at $16,500 to support dental services for low-income or uninsured families.